Various knitting methods for knitting a fabric in the form of a nearly finished product on the flat knitting machine to eliminate or relieve the need of the post-treatment after completion of the knitting are now under study, which are called "the shaping knit". Generally known shaping knits include, for example, (i) a knitting method in which while a front body portion is knitted, the widening or narrowing is performed to change the knitting width so as to correspond in configuration to a dress pattern, or a pocket is formed in the front body portion, so as to relieve the post-treatment after completion of the knitting, which is called "the integral garment", and (ii) a knitting method in which after front and back bodies and right and left sleeves are each knitted in the form of tube in adjacent regions, the sleeves are moved toward the bodies at the armpits and are joined thereto by repetition of the knitting step that loops of the sleeves are superposed on loops of the bodies at the sleeve sides so as to form the loops in the next courses, followed by the knitting step that the final courses of the front and back bodies are joined in the shoulders, whereby a fabric of a nearly completed product is knitted, which is called "the no-seam fabric". Further, another method of the shaping knit is known, which is called "the flechage knitting", in which in the knitting of a fabric, needles associated with a part of a knitting region are put into the rested state and a yarn feeder is reversed on the way in the knitting region to form loops at only a part of the needles and then loops of the next courses are formed on the loops retained at the needles as are in the rested state as well as on the loops retained at the needles as are put in the rested state after completion of the knitting in the other knitting region, so that the number of courses are varied between the wale in the rested state and the wale in the region in which the loops are continuously formed to allow a portion of the fabric having an increased number of courses to project in a convex form, whereby desired undulations are formed in the fabric.
German patent specification No. DE 3937406C2 discloses a knitting method of making use of flechage knitting to form a three-dimensional knitted article. DE 3937406C2 discloses that after the setup, the fabric is branched off back and forth, and one of the branched fabrics is put into the rested state, keeping the loops formed by the setup in their retained state. Then, the other needle bed is used and the other of the branched fabrics is knitted by the flechage knitting at both lengthwise end portions of the other needle bed, so as to form a part. Further, a next part to the previously formed part is knitted by the same flechage knitting to join that part to the previously formed part. Subsequently, the next part to the part formed by the flechage knitting is further knitted by the flechage knitting, whereby that part is joined to the previously formed part. This knitting is repeatedly performed in order, to join the parts to each other, to thereby produce a generally spherical knitted fabric. Then, after the loops of the final course of the one fabric as were kept in the rested state after the setup and the loops in the final course of the fabric of the part that is continuously knitted while it is joined to the previously formed part are joined, the bind-off process is performed. This method provides the advantages that the number of times and the locations of the flechage knitting can be selectively changed in accordance with the configuration of the fabric in which the flechage is formed, to knit a fabric of a desired configuration and that the setup portion and the finishing portion of the knitted fabric can be joined in the process of knitting. The knitting method disclosed by DE3937406C2 has however the disadvantage that the fabric which is put in the rested state after the knitting of the setup portion is being kept in the condition in which the loops formed by the knitting the setup portion are retained by the related needles until they are superposed on the loops of the final course of the other fabric and, as a result of this, a downward tensile force is exerted on the same loops for a long while. Thus, there is the possibility that the loops may be stretched while the other fabric is knitted or yarn breakage may occur and the resultant drop stitch may occur.
It is the object of the present invention to disclose the knitting method of three-dimensional shape fabric having undulation formed in the fabric by the flechage knitting that can provide improved efficiency in the knitting and also can prevent a downward tensile force from being exerted on the same loops for a long while, unlike the conventional knitting method, to prevent loop stretch and yarn breakage.